UPDATE: August 5, 2014 – THEY ARE MOVING to the Cornwall Public Library basement and it is in progress, maybe by September 2014??? I am so excited for them.

They are located at 124 Anthony Street in Cornwall. You need to be either on 2nd St. E. or Hwy 2 to find Anthony St. Let’s take it from 2nd St. E. Go east from the Cornwall Public Library about 16 blocks to get to Anthony Street. Turn right and go south on Anthony Street past 1st St. E., Walton St. and almost to Easton Ave.

This genealogical society is in housed in a school building and it is big.

The Genealogical society – The Sign out front of the building they are located in

You enter these doors go straight ahead to the hallway and and turn left.

Through these doors to the genealogical society

Continue down the hall and turn right:

Enter the Saint-Laurent genealogical society

I almost didn’t go and visit. The minute I walked into the room I knew I had arrived in genealogical heaven! A very large room to the right and another to the left filled with records!

More Records to the left!

Me among their collection. Notice how happy I am!

Me and their collection

Rick greeted me and pulled some items from the shelf. Thank you Rick.

Lillian arrived and he introduced me. Lillian gave me a tour explaining what they had in their collection and took this photograph of me. Thank you Lillian. Note that the Ontario holdings are right behind me on the bookshelves to the left in the picture above. The rest I believe is Quebec and maybe a few other locations.

Lillian said they focused on French Canadian research but accepted anything about the local area. I gave them a copy of my McDonald booklet based on this blog and they were very excited. It does cover Pontiac Co., Quebec.

We took a little time to see if we could find the marriage of my great-uncle John McDonnald to Julia LaCour in Pontiac County, Quebec. I was explaining the problem we were having with too many names for Julia. I described that the name “Record/Ricard” was carved on her tombstone. My cousin and I knew her maiden name as LaCour. It was even more complicated by a 4th potential maiden name of Tebeau. Lillian said the name LaCour in French. The sound she made in French makes it very possible that the name was misinterpreted by the stone cutter or mispronounced. She studied these big blue marriage books for LaCour and they were only showing LeCour. No luck for John and Julia which is what I have been getting in my searches. It was worth a try.

Unfortunately my stay was not long enough. I could see that I needed more time to dig into their holdings. People were milling about and coming and going. It was a lively place. One man and woman were having quite the discussion in French across from me. It was great!

Please be advised that the Glengarry Genealogical Society and the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Genealogical Societies are no longer operating in the area. They are a things of the past. This is not a good situation. However, this society is specifically geared toward genealogical research. There is hope.

ATTENTION: If you have family whether English or French Canadian who settled in this eastern area of Ontario or Vaudrieull and Soulange, then I ask that you consider giving a copy of your family history to this genealogical society? To be sure they will accept it, call or email first and ask. I did and I am glad I stopped by for a visit.

I would like to thank them for their time, interest and help. Frankly, this was one of only a few organizations that gave me a tour and made me feel welcome on my whole trip to Ontario and Quebec. GOOD JOB!

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About BJ MacDonald

Interested in travel, really into genealogy and researching my family history, classic novels and movies, fantasy and science fiction, photography, history and more...
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